Storytellers and Realizations
by thewitchofoz19
Summary: Chat visits Marinette while she is babysitting Manon and is surprisingly great with kids. Marinette realizes that there may be more to her feelings for the black cat than just friendship.


This is my first fanfic, I hope you all like it! I'm really excited to be in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom, so I went out of my comfort zone and started writing. This is also posted on my tumblr, the-witch-of-oz. Please let me know if I can improve in any way I'm always looking for constructive criticism!

* * *

The day was ending slowly, far too slowly for Adrien's taste. He sat in his room, bored out of his mind. The afternoon had been eaten away by a lengthy photoshoot. Adrien gave a dejected sigh and stared at the ceiling. Plagg momentarily looked up from his merriment amongst a plate of cheese, pitying his charge.

"Adrien, how can you be bored after hours at a photoshoot? This is the perfect time to take a cat nap."

"I know that it's been a long day, but I'm feeling restless. I want to do something," said Adrien in a monotonous voice.

"Then how about you swing by for a visit with your favorite classmate?"

At the indirect mention of his friend Marinette, Adrien perked up. Adrien always hung out with Nino, Alya, and Marinette at school, although it was hard to hold a conversation with the black haired girl on most days. She was a lovely girl, but painfully shy. His time with her as Chat when the Evillustrator tried to woo her revealed a new side of Marinette. She was sassy, level headed, and smart. This unveiled side of her personality piqued the interest of the young superhero, and Adrien wondered what else he didn't know about her. The next time they met was under much better circumstances, and was the gateway to finding out.

Chat was patrolling, alone in his thoughts above the rooftops of Paris. He journeyed around to take in the beauty of his beloved city. The night was bitterly cold and his breath puffed out in clouds as he stopped to admire the Eiffel Tower in the distance. From the top of the building he stood on, he could see a lone figure sitting on the steps. They were wrapped up in a coat and scarf, but Chat could not believe anyone would venture out this late at night in such cold. He descended to ground level and made his way over to the person, a teenage girl by his estimate. As he got closer, he recognized the black pigtails and slight frame to be Marinette. He was only a few feet away when he called to her,

"What an unusual night for a princess to be admiring Paris. We cannot have her catching some cold in this weather."

Marinette snapped around as soon as she heard the familiar voice. She looked up to see Chat smirking as he meandered his way over to sit next to her on the steps.

"I can take care of myself perfectly well," Marinette defended. "I just needed some time to clear my head. I've hit a roadblock in my designs."

Adrien knew full well of her talent and aptitude for fashion designing, but Chat asked, "Your designs, Princess?"

"Of course! I hope to become a fashion designer someday, and I'm always working on new ideas and designs, but tonight I just couldn't focus. I've been inspired on these steps before, so I figured that it would be a good place to think. The last time I made up a design here, I won a fashion contest for Gabriel Agreste!"

Chat smiled when he saw how Marinette's face lit up as she talked about her passion. He could see how much she loved her craft. Her blue eyes shone and her cheeks, red with cold, turned redder as she talked.

"This looks like the purrfect place to get ideas," Chat grinned at his own pun as Marinette rolled her eyes with a small smile. "But you should go home. It's freezing out." Marinette shivered slightly as she tried to wrap her coat around herself as tightly as she could instead of answering. Chat continued, "I'm freezing my tail off and I have special material in my superhero suit."

Marinette sighed, taking a moment to stare at the Eiffel. "You're right, I should get going. Thanks Chat," and she got up to leave.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going? A princess such as yourself should have an escort to keep you company." Chat said, scrambling to stand from his place on the ground.

"I already told you, I can take care of myself," said Marinette with a smile.

Chat quickly returned, "Oh, I have no doubts about that. But wouldn't it be nice to have someone to talk to?"

Marinette knew she already lost the battle, so she began walking in the direction of her home and beckoning her hand for Chat to join.

"Come on kitty I don't have all night," her voice lilted as Chat jogged after her to catch up.

He found an excellent friend and confident in Marinette. Some nights he would stop by the Dupain-Cheng bakery after patrol. Occasionally on his free nights he would don his alter ego just to go talk to Marinette. They would talk about life, make jokes, watch the stars. They discovered some mutual loves for different bands and TV shows, and then jokingly argue about the things they disagreed on.

"Mac n' cheese is the best comfort food ever!"

"You're joking right? Have you ever even tasted pizza before?"

Marinette made Chat happy. Marinette made Chat feel like someone cared. For that, he was glad he had her as a friend.

It was decided. Chat was going to visit Marinette.

"Plagg, claws out!"

When the transformation was complete, Adrien expertly maneuvered to the roofs of Paris, sprinting along with carefree joy. He took in the pink and orange sky as dusk continued to fall. Soon he would see his wonderful Princess.

Marinette was losing her mind. Every time she babysat Manon, she swore she would never do it again. This time, Marinette had all of her fashion pieces (especially any hats) on top of the tallest shelves and cabinets she could find. Upon the arrival of the mischievous child, she still managed to drive Marinette crazy. Manon was literally running circles around the older girl, and Marinette could barely keep up with her energy.

"Marinette come play tag with me!," yelled Manon as she leapt onto Marinette's back and climbed up to her shoulders with surprising agility on her behalf.

Marinette stumbled from the offset of her center of gravity before regaining balance. "We've already played that, Manon. Why don't we play something else?"

She paused for a moment to think, then said, "Ok then. Let's play unicorn tag instead!" She screeched with laughter and hopped off of Marinette's back, only to take off running through the living room. Marinette looked helplessly at the small tornado destroying her house. Suddenly, she heard a light tapping on the window. She whirled around to see Chat Noir peering through the window. Her mouth dropped open in shock before regaining her senses and stiffly pointing her finger upwards towards the roof. He gave a small wave and began climbing back up.

Marinette called over to Manon, "Stay put for a moment ok? I'll be right back," and climbed the steps two at a time to her room.

Chat reached the Dupain-Cheng bakery in a matter of minutes. He landed softly on the roof of Marinette's room. He went to look through the windows, but found no one there. Puzzled, Chat climbed down the side of the building to get a better view. He knew Marinette should be home on a lazy day like today. He saw no activity in Marinette's room, so he carefully ventured down a floor lower. He peered inside the large windows. There, he saw Marinette with a young girl, who he recognized was the girl Marinette babysat, Manon. She was sweet when she did the park photoshoot with him. He laughed slightly seeing that Manon was running Marinette wild.

She was patient though. Marinette didn't get mad when Manon jumped on her with no warning, or when she went running around the house. Chat wondered how long it would take for Marinette to notice him outside the window, but decided to expedite the process. He knocked softly. Marinette turned around to see the source of the noise and he smirked when her eyes widened to the size of saucers and her mouth dropped open. Recovering from the shock, she pointed upwards, signaling for him to go to the roof. He waved to signal his understanding and began to climb.

Marinette burst her way up to the rooftop where Chat was leaning casually against the railing and before he could say anything, asked, "What are you doing here?"

More amused than anything at her outburst, Chat replied, "Why, to see you Princess."

"It's a bit earlier than usual don't you think," Marinette gestured to the sky, still alight with the last rays of sun.

"Does that mean I should leave, after coming all this way to visit?"

Marinette didn't want to turn her friend away, but she said "I'm babysitting Manon and I have a responsibility to watch her. I can't leave her alone."

Chat was impressed that she took her responsibilities so seriously, even though he knew she would do something like that anyways. As a compromise he offered, "How about I come visit your friend Manon and we can hang out all together?"

Marinette thought it over for a moment, then said, "Sure, why not. I think Manon would love to meet you."

"I'll have you know I'm very good with kids," Chat said. "They're so much fun to be around."

"That's because you always act like a kid," shot back Marinette as they climbed down the stairs. Chat chuckled softly and followed her closely.

The inside of Marinette's room was a familiar site for Chat, warm and friendly. He has spent as many nights in her room as he has on her roof. Chat particularly enjoyed when they would cuddle up in blankets to watch a movie with Marinette. The pair continued through to the trap door leading to the rest of the house. This part of the house was less familiar to Chat, as he seldom ventured beyond Marinette's room for fear of being caught by her parents.

Marinette called down to Manon as she descended the stairs.

"I have a surprise for you, Manon. Come out and see!"

The youngster popped up from behind the couch and her face lit up with joy upon seeing the Parisian hero.

"It's Chat Noir!"

Chat smiled and turned to Marinette, saying, "I know you are a princess Marinette but I didn't realize you were friends with a fairy princess too!" Manon giggled at his words. Chat walked over to greet Manon, bowing low then crouching down to meet her at eye level. "It's wonderful to meet another princess."

"Can you tell me stories about Chat Noir and Ladybug?" Manon immediately took to her new friend in the black mask.

Chat's heart warmed towards the girl, full of imagination and energy. "Not only just stories, I can tell you tales of the epic adventures of the beautiful Ladybug and her faithful partner, Chat Noir!"

Marinette laughed at her kitty and his childish ways. She was nevertheless fascinated by his ability to calm and enrapture Manon, a feat only previously accomplished by Alya.

"Why don't I go get snacks? This story seems like it needs some good cookies to go along with it," she offered.

She laughed when they both nodded their heads eagerly at the suggestion. By now, Manon and Chat had settled into comfortable sitting positions across from each other on her living room rug.

As Marinette began to walk to the door leading downstairs, she heard Chat begin his tale. "One day, an evil villain named Hawkmouth possessed an innocent civilian, and it was up to Ladybug and Chat Noir to save the day…."

Marinette made her way down to her parent's bakery, and grabbed an assortment of sweets from the trays in the back room. She said a quick hello to her dad mixing ingredients in the warm bakery before climbing up the steps again. The strong smell of baked goods faded with each step she took upstairs back to Chat and Manon.

Marinette reached the door and opened it slowly, as to not disturb the storyteller and his listener. She walked in and watched Chat tell a most likely exaggerated tale of his adventures with Ladybug.

Manon was completely silent, listening with total attention to the blonde hero. His hands and body language told as much about the story as his words, because not only was Manon giving him her complete attention, Chat was giving Manon the same. He made eye contact and engaged with her, made her laugh at the funny parts, and made her gasp at the scary parts.

Marinette looked at her friend, her partner. And then in that moment, with the sun reflecting off of his golden hair and the green of his eyes lit with passion for the story, Marinette saw something else. Her mind was flooded with the image in front of her. She saw more in her silly cat than daring stunts and flirty remarks at the scene in front of her. She was overcome by a feeling she could not explain. Comfort? Admiration? Pride? Love? Whatever it was, this feeling was making her heart flutter in a frenzy and turn her cheeks a dusky pink. This feeling was overpowering and all encompassing. Marinette stared shamelessly at her cat, racing to even remember her own name.

The final stake in her heart was when he looked over to meet eyes with Marinette, still telling the story. Time stood still as their eyes locked from across the room, searching each other's depths in those moments. The floor dropped under her as his brilliant gaze pierced through her. Had she really ever looked in his eyes before? Not just looked at, looked _into_ his eyes?

It only lasted a brief moment in time, but after Chat tore away from the gaze to continue his story with Manon, Marinette knew she was in deep, deep trouble. She knew she had been ignoring it, the fluttery feelings in the back of her being every time she was with Chat. The warmth she felt when talking to him. His hidden side, one of a caring boy that came out when he visited. How they knew more about each other than they ever thought they would.

She knew it was wrong. He loved her alter ego, she loved Adrien. Yet she couldn't help but notice that she was slowing falling for her kitty and she wasn't sure whether to be excited or terrified.

Little did she know, the very same kitty, sitting on the floor telling stories, was falling for Marinette as well.


End file.
